sank in tumultuous waters off the coast of Indonesia Saturday with about 200 believed to have died, the latest in a long series of boat sinkings that have killed refugees.
About 250 people had been crammed on the boat designed to carry only 100. As the monsoon winds blew and waves as high as five meters threatened to capsize the boat, the crew put on life vests and deserted the floundering craft, some swimming, others taking a dinghy.
Video released by Reuters shows an Iranian mother, who survived the ordeal, wailing over the body of her nine-year-old son, who did not.
Television footage showed the survivors dazed and confused in a community center in Indonesia.
“We lost sight of them in the big waves and we never saw them again,” said Mohammad Zia, 18, from Pakistan.
Over the three days after the sinking, only 49 survivors were found.
An Indonesian fishing vessel pulled the survivors out of the water after they had been hanging onto their boat’s wreckage for eight hours, watching some of their loved ones drown before their eyes.
“People were dying in front of us. The bodies were lying in front of us in the water, women and children mostly,” said Esmat Adine, 24, from Afghanistan.
Davood Valadbegi lost his wife, two children and his brother. The Iranian man sobbed as he recounted his story and reiterated his resolve to continue his journey now that he has lost everything. “I lost all my family members. I have no one here. I don’t want this life,” he said as he nursed an injured leg.
In recent years, the number of Iranians coming on boats to seek asylum in Australia has surged dramatically. Figures from Australia’s Department of Immigration show the number of Iranian asylum seekers has risen from only 72 in 2009 to more than 1,445 through November of 2011.
Immigrants from other countries, including Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, have also been coming to Australia in larger numbers.
Immigration policy in Australia has become a hot-button political issue as the numbers of these asylum seekers coming by boat have increased, although the total numbers—a few thousand each year—are insignificant compared to the refugee numbers seen in North America and Europe, not to mention the flood of Afghans in Iran and Pakistan.
Asylum seekers already housed in overcrowded reception centers have protested about bad living conditions and delays in processing, which can stretch for years. Several immigrant detainees have committed suicide.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s government pushed a controversial piece of legislation that would transfer the boat arrivals to a detention facility in Malaysia. The measure was met with opposition from political parties and outrage from rights advocates who expressed concerns about the treatment of asylum seekers in Malaysia. The Supreme Court struck the law down a few months ago.